


Kerouac Wasn't on that Road Alone You Know

by ProtoNeoRomantic



Series: I Want Another First Kiss [31]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Coming Out, Coming of Age, Developing Relationship, End of an era, Episode: s03e22 Graduation Day Part II, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Happy Ending, Leap of Faith, Light Angst, M/M, New Beginning, Older Man/Younger Man, Present Tense, Requited Love, Road Trips, Romance, referenced canon typical violence, some canon dialog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-31 00:45:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3958102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProtoNeoRomantic/pseuds/ProtoNeoRomantic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A first kiss Xander and Giles might have shared at the end of Season 3, when they were both free men.  (3 of 7)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kerouac Wasn't on that Road Alone You Know

“Sorry. I'd best... check on Welsey.” It's the best excuse he can think of at the moment. Buffy nods. “See if he's... still... whimpering....” Giles mumbles, somewhere between joking and explaining. It doesn't matter. Buffy's eyes and ears have already drifted away from him. She needs to be alone. To process. To mourn. He's done all he can do for her.

Mercifully, the ambulance has already begun pulling away. Giles stands there watching it go. With a deliberate lack of speed, he finally turns and begins to make his way back towards the others. By the time he reaches the spot where the little cluster of youth (the ones who've been at the center of his life for two and a half years now) have been gathered, most of them have already turned to go. Some acknowledge him with their eyes. Some don't bother.

Only one stays and waits for him. The right one, he thinks, and smiles as if he'd planned it this way, though he hasn't. He's probably being foolish. Probably the boy isn't waiting for him, just pausing to think, even if it is only on a 'fire bad; tree pretty' level. Still... the timing of everything has seemed to be working out surprisingly well today/night. And as Cordelia continues to walk away with Buffy and the others, Xander doesn't even follow her with his eyes, let alone run to catch up to her.

“You know,” Giles says convincingly casually, “if you ever have any designs on getting her back, there will never be a better moment.” The look in Xander's eyes tells Giles that he doesn't follow at first, then he nods, catching up. His eyes stray to Cordelia's retreating back in the increasing distance, but he still makes no move to follow. All good signs. “The prom dress...” Giles continues, almost babbling now, suddenly nervous. “Her clear apreciation of same... the way you've just acquitted yourself in battle. Like a man.”

Xander turns to face him. Their eyes meet. “Yeah,” Xander agrees, doing a slightly less good job of seeming casual even than Giles is at this point. “If I... now would be the moment.” He's actually shaking a little.

“But, well,” Giles deliberately lightens the tension a bit, not wanting to scare the boy off, “That would interfere with your plans I suppose. The open road, etc.”

“Yeah,” Xander agrees, visibly relieved for the easy out. With the kind of gratitude that goes hand in hand with both trust and affection. “Gotta be travelin' on.”

Rupert's heart is really thumping now and once again he has to warn himself not to move too fast, not to read too much into a few ambiguous signs and portents. “But well,” he rejoins, sounding very blasé if he does say so himself, as if he isn't probing for anything at all, “Kerouac wasn't always on that road alone, you know.”

“No?” Xander asks, with the casual surprise of someone who has clearly read little or none of the book in question.

“He did usually have a... erm 'friend' or two with him,” Giles points out, in the manner of one reminding someone of something he already knows.

“Yeah, I guess,” Xander agrees hesitantly.

“Bound to make the road a bit less lonely,” Giles presses just a bit, still more or less conversationally. “And bound to help with expenses.”

“Yeah,” Xander agrees, a bit more solidly, almost on the edge of complaint in fact. “I kind of wish I had someone to split expenses with, now that I've blown half my budget on formal wear. Pretty dumb move I guess, huh?”

Giles shrugs. “Oh I don't know. It was a nice thing you did for you friend, buying that dress.” He hits the word friend little hard, but he hopes not too hard. However, any subtlety is ruined by the fact that he can't quite help adding, “Well and you do look lovely in that Tuxedo.” And there they are, staring into each other's eyes. A line has been crossed and there is no backing out now, not without retreating altogether.

Giles reaches for Xander's hand. The young man doesn't pull away. He holds on tight. Fear and awe and softer, deeper things struggle in his eyes. He is breathing slow and deep, as if trying to remain calm. They both are. “Buffy...” Xander begins.

“Has a new Watcher,” Giles points out gently. “If she even wants one.” He takes hold of Xander's other hand, closing the tiny distance between them. “I'm not a Watcher anymore, and I'm certainly no librarian,” he whispers. “And you're no school boy.” Their lips are no more than two inches apart. “There's nothing keeping either of us here. Nothing holding us back. Is there?”

Xander shakes his head slowly from side to side, eyes full of longing, though he is unable to speak. That's as much of an invitation as Rupert needs, almost more than he can stand. He tilts his head and leans in just a little, very slightly down. Xander has gotten to be nearly as tall as he is, every inch a man. And like a man, the pressure of his lips is definite, passionate, certain. When they finally pull away, two pairs of hands still tightly clasped, there is no doubt in either man's eyes.

“How soon can you be ready to leave?” Giles asks.

“Tonight!” Xander declares, with sudden, grinning enthusiasm.

Rupert smiles softly, eyes twinkling with amusement. “I, on the other hand," he notes, "might want to pack at least a _few_ things first.” He smiles more than ever at the way Xander struggles not to look too disappointed. Pulling him into a hug, laughing, Rupert proposes, “Well, why don't you stay with me tonight and we can start getting our gear sorted out in the morning?”

“Tonight? Like right now?” for a moment it's hard to tell if Xander is enthusiastic or panicked. Rupert vividly recalls being both at a similar moment. Maybe he's a little of both now. But then Xander laughs happily and all is calm and bliss. “Yeah, alright,” he agrees. “We could do that.”


End file.
